Sao Paulo Med. J. vol.128 número2

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Sao Paulo Med J. 2010; 128(2):102-3

102 Letter to editor

Negative correlations between anxiety-depressive symptoms

and quality of life among patients on hemodialysis

Correlações negativas entre sintomas depressivo-ansiosos e qualidade de vida

em pacientes em hemodiálise

Juliana Bonim do Santos

I

_{, Melina Mendonça}

I

_{, Maria Carolina Pedalino Pinheiro}

II

_{, Sergio Tamai}

III

_{, Ricardo Uchida}

III

_,

Luiz Antonio Miorin

IV

_{, Marsal Sanches}

III

I_{Medical student, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo (FMSCSP), São Paulo, Brazil.} II_{MD. Psychiatric resident, Integrated Mental Health Center, Santa Casa de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.}

III_{MD, PhD. Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo (FMSCSP), São Paulo, Brazil.} IV_{MD, PhD. Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo (FMSCSP), São Paulo, Brazil.}

Dear Editor,

Psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment are extremely common among patients with chronic renal failure and several studies have focused on the impact of these symptoms on the quality of life of patients on hemodialysis.1-5

In order to address this issue, we conducted a cross-sectional study in the Renal Unit of Santa Casa de São Paulo Central Hospital. he sample consisted of 23 patients with chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis (10 male and 13 female; mean age = 39.3 ± 12.8 years; mean duration of dialysis treatment = 68.9 months). he patients were administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Mini-Mental Status Exami-nation (MMSE) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL). he study was approved by the respective Institutional Review Board and written informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to their inclusion in the study. he data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) ver-sion 10.0. We calculated the Spearman correlation coeicient between the scores on the anxiety and depresver-sion scales and the WHOQOL scores.

he statistical analysis revealed a moderate negative correlation between the BAI and WHOQOL scores (r = -0.39; P < 0.01), as well as a moderate negative correlation between the BDI and WHOQOL scores (r = -0.54; P < 0.01). On the other hand, no statistically signiicant correlation was found between the MMSE and WHOQOL scores.

Our indings seem to imply a negative correlation between anxiety and depressive symptoms and the quality of life among patients on hemodialysis. hese indings are in consonance with the results of previous studies.1-3

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Negative correlations between anxiety-depressive symptoms and quality of life among patients on hemodialysis

Sao Paulo Med J. 2010; 128(2):102-3

103 REFERENCES

1. Chilcot J, Wellsted D, Da Silva-Gane M, Farrington K. Depression on dialysis. Nephron Clin Pract. 2008;108(4):c256-64.

2. Cukor D, Coplan J, Brown C, et al. Anxiety disorders in adults treated by hemodialysis: a single-center study. Am J Kidney Dis. 2008;52(1):128-36.

3. Cukor D, Coplan J, Brown C, Peterson RA, Kimmel PL. Course of depression and anxiety diag-nosis in patients treated with hemodialysis: a 16-month follow-up. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008;3(6):1752-8.

4. Finkelstein FO, Wuerth D, Troidle LK, Finkelstein SH. Depression and end-stage renal disease: a therapeutic challenge. Kidney Int. 2008;74(7):843-5.

5. Levy NB. What is psychonephrology? J Nephrol. 2008;21 Suppl 13:S51-3.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvi-mento Cientíico e Tecnológico) Foundation (Brazil)

Sources of funding: This work was supported by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvi-mento Cientíico e Tecnológico) Foundation (Brazil) – Grant no. 111407/2007-9

Conlicts of interest: Juliana Bonim do Santos, Melina Mendonça, Maria Carolina Pedalino Pinheiro, Ricardo Uchida, and Luiz Antonio Miorin have no conlicts of interest. Marsal Sanches and Sergio Tamai are in the speakers’ bureau for Astra-Zeneca

Date of irst submission: December 1, 2009

Last received: February 3, 2010

Accepted: February 11, 2010

Address for correspondence:

Ricardo Uchida

Departamento de Psiquiatria da Faculdade de Medicina da Santa Casa de São Paulo Rua Major Maragliano, 241